p53, latent membrane protein 1, bcl-2, and prognosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a meta-analysis.

The controversy of (p53) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma persists, despite the fact that many studies have been conducted on its correlation with latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1), bcl-2, and prognosis. To better understand this postulated relationship, a meta-analysis was performed based on existing relevant studies. A total of 19 individual studies with a total of 1189 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, the results revealed a significant association of p53-positive status with a poor 5-year survival of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients as the risk difference (RD) was -0.17 (95% CI, -0.31, -0.03; P=0.02, Pheterogeneity =0.01).The overall odds ratio (OR) for LMP1 in the p53 positive group vs. negative group revealed that a significantly elevated risk of positive LMP1 in the former was achieved (OR 5.52 95% CI, 2.66-11.46; P<0.00001, Pheterogeneity =0.78). Similarly, a strong correlation between bcl-2 and p53 was found with an OR 6.85 (95% CI, 2.37-19.74; P=0.0004, Pheterogeneity =0.48). However, there did not appear to be any correlations with clinical parameters such as gender, tumor site, lymph node metastasis,pathological type and TNM stage. In conclusion, p53 expression is related to the survival of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. It can be considered as the auxiliary detection index in treatment and prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.